What a difference 21 years makes ...

I remember the summer of 1990 when, as an 11-year-old kid playing Painesville Little League for the Orioles, I was selected as an alternate for the AL All-Star team.

We had 24 All-Stars and four alternates in Painesville. And all the All-Stars were more than excited about adjusting and pulling-on their new mesh ballcaps.

Back then, the MLB Mid-Summer Classic was a 2-0 AL win at Wrigley Field. Julio Franco was named MVP for smashing a double off NL reliever Rob Dibble, plating Sandy Alomar Jr. and Lance Parrish in the 8th inning. Yeah, two slow-moving catchers scored the only runs that year. Strange, I know.

In 1990, MLB had 58 All-Stars. There were 700 players on MLB rosters then. So about 8 percent of Major Leaguers were named All-Stars.

That number has been just about the norm over the years. Players selected who didn't get the chance to play, either couldn't play (due to real injuries) or were prevented from playing (because of a managerial decision). But there was one constant: everyone showed up. Even the guys who were injured made an appearance. That's because the All-Star Game used to be fun. Little League or Major League. Didn't matter. Being named an All-Star used to mean something.

But it's changed over the past 21 years.

Players have been skipping the All-Star Game. More and more "phantom injuries" and "fatigue excuses" have been popping up in recent years. MLB has also installed a rule that prevents several top starting pitchers from participating, for "scheduling concerns and injury prevention." This, despite the league raising the stakes on the outcome of the game. Whichever league wins the All-Star game is rewarded with home-field advantage for the World Series. Yet guys like Justin Verlander and Cole Hamels are ruled ineligible because they started a regular-season game on Sunday? Give me a break!

The 2011 edition of MLB's All-Star game had 81 players earn the All-Star "distinction." Now, with 750 roster slots in MLB, more than 1-in-10 players make the All-Star team. So much for distinction. Remember when card values would increase for All-Stars in the August editions of Beckett Baseball Card Monthly? Those were the days.

Nowadays, several big names are guilty of cashing-in on All-Star bonuses, only to sit back in their million-dollar homes watching the game from their plush recliners on the big screen. How many kids punched-in their ballots for Derek Jeter and were excited to see his No. 2 Yankee jersey leading-off yesterday, only to be disappointed when Jeter promptly punched-out due to fatigue? Jeter will make $15 million to play baseball for seven months this year. Over the course of his career, he's made more than $200 million in Yankee salary, excluding his earnings from several top tier endorsement deals. He owns four mansions, and during his Yankee career he's dated Mariah Carey, Miss Universe, Joy Enriquez, Jordana Brewster, Vanessa Minillo, Jessica Biel and currently Minka Kelly. Fatigue? Please!

There were 12 All-Stars selected for the Painesville Americans and Painesville Nationals. Each team had two alternates. Rules stated alternates must attend and view games from the bleachers, wearing only the team hat and team jersey. The rest of your uniform stayed in the trunk of your Dad's car.

Didn't matter to me. I was good with simply being recognized, and I proudly sported my team hat - even after our All-Star team was eliminated. We'd wear the hats to Senior League games, Cedar Point, family picnics, etc. We'd dirty 'em up. And next year ... first practice ... we broke out the Painesville American hats. You were good if you could pull off that feat at the start of your "12-year-old season." Not many 11-year-old made the All-Star team.

Today, it's the same way at the Little League level. Kids still run around the neighborhood playing whiffle ball, wearing half their All-Star uniform. They emulate their favorite players' batting stances just like I did with Julio Franco's unorthodox stance and Don Mattingly's sweet left-handed swing. And that's fine, because that's how America's Past-Time is supposed to be celebrated.

We can only hope today's Little Leaguers draw the line and ignore their favorite players' recent All-Star game shenanigans, which takes the fun right out of the game.